Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding (a) in total and (b) per capita it has allocated to tackle alcohol misuse in each NHS board area and to which organisations any such funding was allocated.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Funding to tackle alcohol problems is provided within NHS boards' and local authorities' general allocations and cannot be separately identified. The Executive is providing £1 million in 2002-03 to Alcohol Action Teams to assess local needs and draw up local strategies to address these. A breakdown of this funding by NHS Board area is given in the following table:

  Executive Funding to Alcohol Action Teams in 2002-03 by NHS Board Area

  


Argyll and Clyde 
  

£66,500 
  



Ayrshire and Arran 
  

£63,500 
  



Borders 
  

£48,500 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

£51,500 
  



Fife 
  

£60,500 
  



Forth Valley 
  

£56,500 
  



Grampian 
  

£91,500 
  



Greater Glasgow 
  

£96,500 
  



Highland 
  

£55,500 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

£71,500 
  



Lothian 
  

£117,000 
  



Orkney 
  

£43,500 
  



Shetland 
  

£43,500 
  



Tayside 
  

£89,500 
  



Western Isles 
  

£44,500 
  



Total 
  

£1,000,000

Autism

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, whether the working group to develop lifelong services for people with autistic spectrum disorders as recommended in the Public Health Institute of Scotland’s Autistic Spectrum Disorders Needs Assessment Report of December 2001 has been set up and, if so, (a) when it was established, (b) what its membership is, who appointed them and what the selection process was, (c) on what dates it has met and whether the minutes of any of its meetings are publicly available, (d) whether it has a timetable for the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report and (e) what its achievements have been to date.

Mr Frank McAveety: We propose to deliver this recommendation through the working group established by the Public Health Institute for Scotland for the development of the Autistic Spectrum Disorders Needs Assessment Report . Membership is as stated on the inside cover of that report. The Scottish Executive held a first meeting with the group on 24 June 2002. This initial meeting focused on the identification of priorities for implementing the report’s recommendations. There is no minute of the meeting.

Care of Elderly People

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18178 by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 September 2001, whether the definition of personal care contained in its guidance circular CCD 4/2002, which states that "food preparation and provision of meals are not included", contradicts the recommended definition in the Care Development Group’s report, Fair Care for Older People , which includes "assistance with preparation of food" and, if so, what action it is taking in respect of this matter.

Mr Frank McAveety: The Scottish Executive do not believe that there is any discrepancy between the Care Development Group Report, the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 schedule 1 and the subsequent guidance CCD/4/2002 issued to councils on the implementation of the policy.

  The Care Development Group recommended that there should be sufficient flexibility in the definition and in turn application of personal care to ensure an individual's care needs can be properly met. "Assistance with the preparation of food" was therefore included in the definition to encompass those with severe physical and/or mental frailty who may need support for certain tasks. The Executive will continue to monitor the practical effect of the policy across all local authorities and keep the guidance under review.

Crofters Commission

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many crofts were added to the Register of Crofts that were not previously recorded on the register in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Ross Finnie: The number of crofts added to the Register of Crofts in each of the last 10 complete calendar years is indicated in the following table:

  


Year 
  

Number of New Crofts Recorded 
  



1992 
  

18 
  



1993 
  

25 
  



1994 
  

18 
  



1995 
  

18 
  



1996 
  

21 
  



1997 
  

28 
  



1998 
  

29 
  



1999 
  

13 
  



2000 
  

32 
  



2001 
  

22 
  



  Most of these crofts were created from existing crofts by subdivision or through reorganisation. Only three cases (one in 1996 and two in 2000) involved land that was not previously recorded on the Register of Crofts.

  In seeking the information required to answer this question it has been established that since 1955 a total of 203 holdings of land on crofting common grazings that are linked to non-croft holdings have been deemed to be crofts for the purpose of crofting legislation. The figures in the preceding table do not include details of any such holdings established during the period 1990 to 2001. Data relating to these holdings is held by the Crofters Commission but mostly not on the Register of Crofts. If you wish further information about these holdings the Chief Executive of the Crofters Commission will be happy to provide full details.

Dental Health

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio of whole-time equivalent general dental practitioners to population is in (a) each NHS board area and (b) each local authority area.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The ratio of general dental practitioners to population in (a) each NHS board area and (b) each local authority area is shown in the following tables. Whole-time-equivalent information is not available.

  (a) Ratio of General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) to Population in each NHS Board Area

  


NHS Board Area 
  

Number of GDPs1


Ratio of GDPs to Population2




Argyll and Clyde 
  

175 
  

1:2,420 
  



Ayrshire and Arran 
  

129 
  

1:2,895 
  



Borders 
  

41 
  

1:2,607 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

37 
  

1:3,941 
  



Fife 
  

134 
  

1:2,615 
  



Forth Valley 
  

101 
  

1:2,752 
  



Grampian 
  

156 
  

1:3,355 
  



Greater Glasgow 
  

414 
  

1:2,185 
  



Highland 
  

92 
  

1:2,267 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

195 
  

1:2,882 
  



Lothian 
  

354 
  

1:2,214 
  



Orkney 
  

7 
  

1:2,783 
  



Shetland 
  

13 
  

1:1,726 
  



Tayside 
  

161 
  

1:2,394 
  



Western Isles 
  

7 
  

1:3,883 
  



Scotland 
  

2,016 
  

1:2,537 
  



  (b) Ratio of General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) to Population in each Local Authority Area

  


Local Authority Area 
  

Number of GDPs1


Ratio of GDPs to Population2




Aberdeen City 
  

77 
  

1:2,744 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

58 
  

1:3,917 
  



Angus 
  

37 
  

1:2,951 
  



Argyll and Bute 
  

33 
  

1:2,691 
  



City of Edinburgh 
  

234 
  

1:1,938 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

16 
  

1:3,029 
  



Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 
  

7 
  

1:3,883 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

37 
  

1:3,941 
  



Dundee City 
  

68 
  

1:2,099 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

33 
  

1:3,655 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

47 
  

1:2,357 
  



East Lothian 
  

38 
  

1:2,402 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

41 
  

1:2,190 
  



Falkirk 
  

48 
  

1:3,007 
  



Fife 
  

134 
  

1:2,615 
  



Glasgow City 
  

285 
  

1:2,138 
  



Highland 
  

92 
  

1:2,267 
  



Inverclyde 
  

30 
  

1:2,820 
  



Midlothian 
  

19 
  

1:4,326 
  



Moray 
  

21 
  

1:4,045 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

49 
  

1:2,834 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

110 
  

1:2,978 
  



Orkney Islands 
  

7 
  

1:2,783 
  



Perth and Kinross 
  

56 
  

1:2,386 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

85 
  

1:2,082 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

41 
  

1:2,607 
  



Shetland Islands 
  

13 
  

1:1,726 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

47 
  

1:2,424 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

117 
  

1:2,627 
  



Stirling 
  

37 
  

1:2,303 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

36 
  

1:2,628 
  



West Lothian 
  

63 
  

1:2,487 
  



Scotland 
  

2,016 
  

1:2,537 
  



  Notes:

  1. Number of principal GDPs at 30 June 2002.

  2. Population figures at mid-year 2000.

Dental Health

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for an appointment to see a salaried general dental practitioner in each NHS board area.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: This is a matter for the relevant Island NHS Boards and Primary Care NHS Trusts. The information requested is not held centrally.

Dental Health

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of patients is that are currently registered with salaried general dental practitioners in each NHS board area.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The average number of patients that were registered, as at 30 June 2002, with salaried general dental practitioners in each NHS board area is show in the following table.

  Average Number of Patients that are Currently Registered with Salaried General Dental Practitioners in each NHS Board Area

  


NHS Board Area 
  

Number of Dentists 
  

Number of Patients Registered 
  

Average Number of Patients Registered Per 
  Dentist 
  



Argyll and Clyde 
  

6 
  

5,493 
  

916 
  



Ayrshire and Arran 
  

5 
  

3,949 
  

790 
  



Borders 
  

4 
  

182 
  

46 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  



Fife 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  



Forth Valley 
  

1 
  

893 
  

893 
  



Grampian 
  

4 
  

3,431 
  

858 
  



Greater Glasgow 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  



Highland 
  

22 
  

10,328 
  

469 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  



Lothian 
  

10 
  

7,300 
  

730 
  



Orkney 
  

3 
  

780 
  

260 
  



Shetland 
  

5 
  

1,718 
  

344 
  



Tayside 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  



Western Isles 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  



  Note:

  Some salaried general dental practitioners provide services on a part-time basis.

Dental Health

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost of each full-time equivalent salaried general dental practitioner has been, including accommodation, equipment, staff, materials, salaries and laboratory fees, in each of the last three years.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: This is a matter for the relevant Island NHS Boards and Primary Care NHS Trusts. The information requested is not held centrally.

Enterprise

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to establish a special task force to look at the future of Fife’s economy.

Iain Gray: The Executive believes that the identification of local priorities for economic development and the delivery of co-ordinated economic development activities is dealt with most effectively by partnerships of local organisations and agencies. Scottish Enterprise Fife, in following the Smart Successful Scotland strategy, is taking action to encourage the growth of businesses, improvements in skills and the creation of new employment opportunities. There are already in place effective arrangements for dealing with redundancy situations and the Fife PACE (Partnership Action For Continuing Employment) team provides a wide range of early interventions to alleviate job losses and assist those affected. The Fife Local Economic Forum provides a robust mechanism for driving forward an agreed economic agenda for the area and has the potential to deliver real results in terms of sustainable economic development. This largely fulfils the role that a task force might have.

Enterprise

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many ex-employees of the enterprise network have been engaged as consultants by the enterprise network.

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of funding from the (a) Scottish Enterprise and (b) Highlands and Islands Enterprise budgets was allocated to (i) loans and (ii) grants in each year since 1999-2000 and what the projected allocations by each will be in 2003-04.

Iain Gray: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Fisheries

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of overall project costs were grant aided when awarding grants to the fish processing industry under the £1 million announced by the then Deputy Minister for Rural Development during the debate on the fishing industry on 8 March 2001; whether the percentages varied from project to project, and what criteria were used to determine the percentage grant paid to each project.

Ross Finnie: Based on the action plan that was originally submitted, the £1 million (the grant) covered approximately 60% of the total cost of implementation. The percentages varied from project to project. Some projects were fully supported while others only needed around 30% support. The grant required for each project was determined in the first instance by the group that prepared the action plan (based on the other sources of funding that they were able to identify). The plan was then submitted to ministers who in turn took a view as to whether or not the percentage grant that was required was reasonable. In general terms, ministers wanted to be satisfied that there was sufficient third party support in terms of meeting the cost of what was being proposed.

Fisheries

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what grants have been made to the fish processing industry under the £1 million announced by the then Deputy Minister for Rural Development during the debate on the fishing industry on 8 March 2001, listing for each grant, the (a) recipient, (b) project for which it was given, (c) value, and (d) local enterprise company which processed it.

Ross Finnie: The most recent figures (for 2002 to end July) are given in the following table. £60,000 was spent implementing the action plan in 2001.

  


Recipient 
  

Project 
  

Value (£000) 
  



SE Grampian 
  

E Trading 
  

23 
  



Joint Ventures 
  

37 
  



Developing Managers 
  

30 
  



Financial Reviews 
  

13 
  



Seafood Scotland


Processors Quality Award 
  

18 
  



Pelagic Quality Project 
  

16 
  



Advance Information 
  

15 
  



Links to Retailers 
  

20 
  



Product Development 
  

32 
  



Marketing 
  

8 
  



Seafish


Workforce Skills 
  

13 
  



Benchmarking 
  

13 
  



SFMF*


Rates Review 
  

10 
  



Climate Change 
  

3 
  



Action Plan Co-ordinator 
  

36 
  



ACC** 
  

Buying Co-operative 
  

3 
  



  Notes:

  *SFMF = Scottish Fish Merchant's Federation.

  ** ACC = Aberdeen City Council.

  The plan is currently at the implementation stage and will run through to March 2003. All grants were processed by Scottish Enterprise Grampian.

Fisheries

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether grants made to the fish processing industry under the £1 million announced by the then Deputy Minister for Rural Development during the debate on the fishing industry on 8 March 2001 were paid through Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise and their local enterprise companies and whether any other bodies were involved in the assessment of the grant applications and in the payment of grants.

Ross Finnie: The payment of all action plan grants is administered by Scottish Enterprise Grampian for accounting reasons. Payments are approved by the Action Plan Working Group who assess bids against the objectives set out in the plan.

  The Action Plan Working Group includes representatives from Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the Scottish Executive, Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Seafish, Seafood Scotland, and the Scottish Fish Merchant's Federation.

Flood Prevention

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence it has that Planning Advice Note 61 has been effective in promoting drainage systems which are sustainable and mitigate against flooding.

Ross Finnie: Planning Advice Note 61, Planning and Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems was published in July 2001. It gives advice on the role of the planning system in helping to deliver sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) as advocated in the SUDS Design Manual for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

  The SUDS Monitoring Project, funded by the Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (SNIFFER), shows 3,913 systems installed on 769 sites during the period between mid-1995 and the beginning of 2002. Since most of these will predate the publication of the Planning Advice Note (PAN), it is not possible to say what effect publication of the PAN has made.

Flood Prevention

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive who is responsible for issuing consent for the construction of sustainable urban drainage systems

Ross Finnie: Each regulatory authority has its own powers, and thus formal approval for a drainage system may be needed from the planning authority (planning permission); the building control authority (building warrant); Scottish Water (drainage construction consent); the roads authority (road construction consent); and from Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) (consent to discharge – if required – or conditional prohibition notice).

  The developer is responsible for the construction of a sustainable drainage system and for ensuring it meets the requirements of the design manual prepared by the Sustainable Urban Drainage Scottish Working Party. As described above, depending on the circumstances the developer may have to ensure that the appropriate local authority, SEPA and Scottish Water are content with the design of the system.

Flood Prevention

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what expectations it has in relation to the take-up rate for sustainable urban drainage systems.

Ross Finnie: Given that sustainable urban drainage systems are common practice in all new developments, the expectation is that the figures quoted in the answer given to question S1W-29075 today, will increase. The SNIFFER project referred to in that reply has estimated there will be some 1,600 SUDS sites in Scotland by January 2006.

Forward Scotland

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive under what legislative power or otherwise Forward Scotland was established.

Ross Finnie: Forward Scotland is a company limited by guarantee (company number 232302) established under the Companies Acts 1985 and 1989. The Scottish Executive provides development funding for Forward Scotland through the Sustainable Action Fund, under the powers provided in section 152 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Genetically Modified Crops

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring is carried out to ensure that none of the yield from crops situated in the vicinity of GM crop trials is contaminated by the trials and that no core material so affected is able to enter the human food chain.

Ross Finnie: No specific monitoring is carried out on crops situated in the vicinity of GM crop trials.

  Separation distances are in place around GM crop trials to minimise the potential for cross-pollination. They do not reflect any doubts about safety; they are used to maintain high levels of purity in adjacent crops and are a recognised method of enabling different crops to co-exist. The Executive’s scientific advisers are satisfied that neither cross-pollination involving the variety of GM herbicide tolerant oil seed rape being grown in the farm-scale trials, nor the pollen itself landing on neighbouring crops, poses a threat to human health or the environment. The harvested GM crop and any sexually compatible crops grown within the separation distances surrounding GM crop trials will not enter the human food or animal feed chain.

Legislation

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a formal process under which it can approach Her Majesty’s Government about UK legislation that covers devolved matters in Scotland prior to it becoming law and, if so, what formal process is involved and under what authority it operates

Ms Patricia Ferguson: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including the implications of UK legislation for Scotland.

Legislation

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what role it has in ensuring that concordats between it and Her Majesty’s Government are fully complied with and how it carries out this role.

Mr Jim Wallace: Each bilateral concordat provides for dispute resolution procedures, at senior official level and ministerial level, and also refers to the process for triggering a formal intervention of the Joint Ministerial Committee, the final dispute resolution option. The Executive monitors observance with the concordats by reference to the need for recourse to the dispute resolution procedures.

Nursing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many trainee nurses funded by it (a) started and (b) completed their training in each of the last three years.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is set out in the following table. Information for 2001-02 has not yet been published.

  


Year 
  

Commencements 
  

Completions 
  



1998-99 
  

3,220 
  

2,235 
  



1999-2000 
  

3,209 
  

2,316 
  



2000-01 
  

3,494 
  

2,330 
  



  Information on the numbers who began nursing training in the last three years includes those students who transferred between courses for the different disciplines of nursing or who have taken a break and returned. The information is collected annually for the period 1 April to 31 March.

People with Disabilities

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to celebrate the European Year of Disabled People in 2003.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive has set up a Scottish steering group to take forward a number of events in Scotland to celebrate the European Year of Disabled People in 2003. These events will be in addition to UK wide work co-ordinated by the Department for Work and Pensions.

  The steering group is considering plans for events and activities throughout the year, but has yet to announce it's proposed programme.

People with Disabilities

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many grants are available to disability organisations as part of the European Year of Disabled People 2003 and what the (a) monetary value of and (b) criteria for the award of such grants will be.

Ms Margaret Curran: Responsibility for allocation of European Union grants to disability organisations as part of the European Year of Disabled People 2003 lies with the Department for Work and Pensions, who have the UK co-ordinating role. No additional grants will be available from the Executive.

Pre-School Education

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage local authorities to make more use of the private nursery sector.

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage local authorities to communicate effectively with private sector nursery providers and their representatives.

Cathy Jamieson: The value of the role played by the private and voluntary sectors in delivering pre-school education is widely recognised. The Executive remains committed to the concept of a mixed economy in the childcare sector, and offers guidance to local authorities on a regular basis. This guidance underlines the value of working with partners to meet the needs of children and their parents.

  A short-term working group is currently being convened to consider the commissioning of pre-school partners. The members of the group will include representatives from COSLA, Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, Highland Pre-school Service, Scottish Pre-school Play Association and the Scottish Independent Nurseries Association. The group will offer recommendations on appropriate guidance for local authorities to encourage consistency of commissioning practice across the country.

Pre-School Education

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it assesses any differences in the costs of private sector nursery places in comparison with similar nursery places provided by local authorities.

Cathy Jamieson: This is a matter for local authorities. In meeting the duty in respect of pre-school education local authorities may secure places either at their own hand or by commissioning partners in the private and voluntary sectors.

  In March 2001, Audit Scotland issued a report A good Start: commissioning pre-school education which offers guidance to authorities on obtaining good value for money when securing pre-school provision.

Pre-School Education

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that local authorities allow parents the right to select the nursery place of their choice for their three- or four-year-old child, whether that place be in the local authority, private or independent sector.

Cathy Jamieson: From 1 April this year, the Standard in Schools Act (2000) placed a duty on local authorities to secure a free part-time pre-school education place for all three and four-year-olds whose parents want one. Section 35 of the act gives authorities express power to secure provision through suppliers other than themselves.

  Guidance offered by the Scottish Executive reminds local authorities of the need to take into account parents wishes when allocating pre-school education places.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the timescale was from the decision to build to occupancy in respect of HM Prison Kilmarnock.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The contract was awarded in November 1997. The prison was opened in March 1999.

Renewable Energy

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications for the construction of wind turbine electricity farms it has sent to the Ministry of Defence for consultation.

Lewis Macdonald: Seven.

Renewable Energy

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Ministry of Defence to facilitate the future development of wind turbine electricity farms.

Lewis Macdonald: Officials from the Scottish Executive and the Ministry of Defence have been involved in a series of meetings to identify the constraints on windfarm development and to identify solutions. These discussions are on-going.

  The Scottish Executive is also represented on the Aviation Interests Working Group which brings together the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA), the Department of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Defence and the Civil Aviation Authority.

Renewable Energy

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions the Ministry of Defence has recommended the refusal of the approval of a proposed wind turbine electricity farm.

Lewis Macdonald: Twice.

Renewable Energy

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will develop new guidelines for local authorities to produce strategic plans for the siting of wind turbine electricity farms, detailing areas where (a) such farms would not be acceptable and (b) applications could attract a presumption in favour of development status.

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce new guidelines for local authorities to protect areas of scenic beauty and those considered environmentally sensitive or fragile from the development of wind turbine electricity farms.

Hugh Henry: Guidance on how local authorities should provide for wind farms in their development plans is set out in National Planning Policy Guideline 6: Renewable Energy Developments . This guidance will be kept under review, particularly in the light of any revised targets arising from the consultation paper on Scotland’s Renewable Energy Potential – Beyond 2010.

Road Safety

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations the Scottish Road Safety Campaign, local authorities or the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland have made to it in the light of the report by the Transport Research Laboratory, Road Safety Research Report No.26, Dangerous Driving and the Law ; what representations it has made or plans to make to Her Majesty's Government as a result, and what research it has commissioned or plans to commission on the issues raised in the report.

Mr Jim Wallace: We have not received any representations from the organisations mentioned about the report. The Scottish Executive is working with the UK Government to consider the report before deciding whether changes to the law or its administration are required. We consider the research which has already taken place to be adequate in informing further policy development.

Waste Management

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will issue new guidelines restricting the future use of landfill disposal sites.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive issued a consultation paper entitled Safer Landfill on 29 August. This contains a draft set of regulations that the Executive intends to make, designed to tighten up controls surrounding the use and operation of landfill sites. A copy of the consultation paper has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre, (Bib. number 23948). It can also be viewed at: www.scotland.gov.uk/views/views.asp .

Water Safety

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many times cryptosporidium was detected in the Glasgow water supply in the past twelve months (a) above 0 oocysts per 100 litres, (b) above 1 oocysts per 100 litres and (c) above 10 oocysts per 100 litres.

Ross Finnie: During the 12-month period from 1 September 2001 to 31 August 2002, Scottish Water carried out 730 tests for cryptosporidium on treated water samples taken from Milngavie treatment works. A total of 243 of these tests were positive.

  The Cryptosporidium Direction requires Scottish Water to report results as "oocysts per 10 litres". At no time did the level of cryptosporidium in the water leaving Milngavie exceed 1 oocyst per 10 litres. The maximum number of oocysts detected in the treated water at Milngavie was 0.353 oocysts per 10 Litres and this was reported on 3 August 2002.

Water Safety

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24879 by Ross Finnie on 7 May 2002, whether there is any further information concerning drinking water quality in the EH9 postcode, particularly during August 2002.

Ross Finnie: Postcode EH9 covers two water quality zones, one supplied from Alnwickhill water treatment works and the other from Fairmilehead.

  The August results for the zone supplied by Alnwickhill show that one sample contained 101.6 microgrammes per litre of trihalomethanes (THMs). However, the standard for THMs set in the Water Supply (Water Quality) (Scotland) Regulations 1990, of 100 microgrammes per litre, is based on a three month rolling average. The results for June and July were 95.1 microgrammes per litre and 98.5 microgrammes per litre, respectively. The THM standard, based on the three month rolling average, has therefore not been breached.

Water Safety

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken to ensure that the water industry regulatory framework will be operated in the best interests of customers.

Ross Finnie: The Drinking Water Quality Regulator, the Water Industry Commissioner and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency each have a duty to ensure that the regulatory framework is operated in accordance with the requirements of the Parliament.

Water Safety

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what cryptosporidium levels were monitored between January and August 2002 in treated water from the Milngavie water treatment plant.

Ross Finnie: Scottish Water carried out 484 tests for cryptosporidium on the treated water at Milngavie treatment works between January 2002 and August 2002. One hundred and sixty-seven of these test results were positive. The maximum level of Cryptosporidium detected in the treated water over the period was 0.353 oocysts per 10 litres and this was reported on Saturday 3 August 2002.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood Project

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Presiding Officer what the current estimated total cost is of materials being fitted in the new Parliament building and how much of this material is (a) Scottish in origin or (b) from other parts of the United Kingdom.

Sir David Steel: Materials for the new Parliament building are included in Trade Contracts which are let under normal competitive tender procedures. The bids made by the competing Trade Contractors for each individual works package include the costs of labour and materials, but do not give a breakdown identifying the costs of each item of material involved. The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group is therefore unable to provide information on the cost of materials over the entire project, as it is not held in the detailed format requested. He has confirmed however, that Scottish timber and stone are being widely used across the site, and that a substantial number of contracts include other materials sourced in Scotland.